The present invention relates to the field of the textile industry, in particular machines for winding yarns and has for its object a gripping device for a package for such machines.
At present, there exists a device for gripping the tubes of packages which is in the form of an assembly of jacks and springs acting symmetrically on two gripping arms for the tube, these arms being movably mounted rotatably about a hinge point. In this device, the gripping of the tube is carried out by means of two mandrels.
Such a gripping device has the drawback of requiring preliminary adjustment of the spacing of the axes of rotation of the arms as a function of the length of the tube to be gripped between said arms, so as to avoid damaging said tube by a chewing action and to release the yarn which is gripped between said mandrels in an incorrect manner. Moreover, there also exists the risk of decreasing the duration of life of the roller bearings of the mandrels.
There is also known a gripping device comprising a fixed arm, which is however adjustable in position, and an arm articulated in rotation which bears against the free end of the tube by means of a mandrel.
Such a gripping device however has the drawback of requiring adjustment of the positioning of the fixed arm to permit centering of the tube at the winding station. Moreover, in this embodiment, the surface of the mandrel is pressed inaccurately parallel on the tube, which gives rise to the same problems of damaging the tube, releasing the yarn and lifetime of the roller bearings of the mandrel.
The present invention has for its object to overcome these drawbacks by providing a gripping device for a package in particular for yarn winding machines permitting simple and rapid adaptation to all types of tubes and packages to be produced.
To this end, the gripping device for a package according to the invention is characterized in that it is constituted by two lateral arms each provided at its free end with a spindle for mounting a package tube, movably mounted by their other end on a slide way for supporting and mounting on a winding machine and actuated to open and close by means of a jack, the mounting of each lateral arm on the support and mounting slide way of the winding machine being carried out by means of an axle secured to the support and mounting slide way on the winding machine and coacting with an oblong hole of the lateral arm, said support and mounting slide way on the winding machine being provided moreover with guide abutments for limiting the path, coacting with the corresponding end of the lateral arms during the opening and closing of said lateral arms.